Oral Storytelling Web

One kind of bribery in particular

From the childhood memoirs of Egyptian writer Taha Hussein (1899-1973), who went blind when he was three years old:

One kind of bribery in particular he found most entertaining and diverting and it caused him to neglect his duty shamefully. This kind was of stories, tales and books. If any pupil could tell him a story or buy him a volume from the man who travelled round the villages hawking books, or could recite to him an episode of the story of ‘Alzir Salim’ or ‘Abu Zaid’, he might be sure of anything he wished in the way of favour, companionship and partiality.